Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB) is
expecting an investment of $875 in this sector during the current fiscal
year as the 5 international firms have expressed interest in different
projects producing electricity through alternate sources. The AEDB has
already granted permission toe New Park Energy Limited for installation
of 45 MW wind powerhouse, the first of 400 MW projects, at a cost of $
400 million in coastal areas of Sindh.

This has taken Pakistan into a new source of power
generation. Wind energy is the cheapest source of electricity generation
and doubtlessly it is a great blessing for a country like Pakistan. The
country is burdened heavily with costly power generation like thermal
and hydel sources.

New Park Energy Limited is a partner of consortium
comprising Dorsch Consult Germany and Albario Engineering Limited, and
it had submitted proposal to the AEDB some time back for power
generation through wind energy. The AEDB has asked the New Park Energy
Limited to complete the first phase of its programme in six months. On
completion of the project, the consortium would sell electricity to
Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC), for which its
representatives are already engaged with the National Electric Power
Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) for signing a power purchase agreement (PPA).

The consortium had given a detailed presentation to
the AEDB at a meeting on August 24, which was followed by grant of
permission to it for the construction of wind farm project. The AEDB
Chairman, Air Marshal (Retd) Shahid Hamid, presided over the meeting.
The meeting was told that the consortium has 125 years experience in
wind energy technology and it enjoys over 50 years experience in
installation of wind farm and its operation and maintenance.

New Park Energy Limited Chief Executive Saeed Akhtar
informed the board that Pakistan could make up its energy shortage by
using its potential of wind power generation as wind energy is an
alternative source of power generation and it is environment friendly,
renewable and cost effective. He said that large amount of foreign
exchange spent on oil import for energy generation could be saved by
producing power through wind energy like other developing countries. He
added that the mega project would open the doors of development and
encourage other foreign investors to invest in Pakistan creating
tremendous economic activity and offer the much needed additional job
opportunities.

After detailed discussion and deliberation, the AEDB
agreed with the proposal and allowed the consortium to install its farms
near Karachi and start production of the first phase of 45 MW. Karachi
coast being ideal for wind farms, the government has decided to provide
land to the consortium near Port Qasim within a short period of two
weeks to expedite the start of work.

It was in June last that the then Prime Minister, Mir
Zafarullah Khan Jamali, after a presentation by the AEDB directed to
prepare an action plan within one month to swiftly execute alternative
energy projects throughout the country, particularly in the rural areas.
The Jamali cabinet had promised that the government will provide all
necessary resources to the AEDB to implement the action plan. Further,
to promote this sector, the government would explore all the
opportunities, including hiring experts from abroad and giving
incentives to the private sector. AEDB would be made autonomous to make
it an effective institution and the government would consolidate the
work of all the ministries dealing with power production. It is hoped
that this emphasis on alternative energy would not be a casualty of
Jamaliís unceremonial departure from the executive branch.

Developing alternate forms of energy is critical for
energy deficient countries such as ours. AEDB was set up on the
recommendation of a task force constituted by the government to explore
the possibilities of producing alternative forms of energy. It must be
said though that at least so far, the AEDB does not have much to show
for itself. In fact the last AEDB meeting chaired by the then prime
minister was the first of its kind. As often happens with institutions
set up by the government, it needs a strong hand on the tiller to
negotiate the reefs and shoals of Islamabadís power corridors. One
such individual who has managed to get things moving in the IT sector is
Dr. Ata-ur-Rehman. Someone with the same amount of energy and competence
is required for the job of developing alternate forms of energy, a
project that has suffered benign neglect over the years despite Pakistanís
critical energy shortage. Perhaps the good scientist could find time
from his other responsibilities to oversee this sector also.

Pakistan has traditionally relied on hydel power to
provide the bulk of its energy needs. However, controversies over water
distribution have bogged down the prospect of big dams capable of
generating substantial electricity. Thermal power, as the experience of
the IPPs shows, has proved prohibitively expensive. Investment in the
thermal generation sector raised the cost of electricity through the
roof and threw the economy out of kilter because of unaffordable costs
of production. Coal holds promise, especially the Thar deposits, but
environmental concerns have relegated this source to the less favoured,
at least in the developed world.

Alternate energy implies in most cases it is
renewable sources of energy. Apart from hydel, amongst the possibilities
are solar, wind and bio-mass. Nuclear energy, even when it is being
developed at the Chashma nuclear plants, is beset by high capital costs
and international political pressures. For a country located
geographically as Pakistan is, solar power promises unlimited amounts of
renewable energy. The problem with this technology in the past has been
the high cost and limited recovery of energy. But in recent years
technological breakthrough are increasingly bringing the cost of solar
cells and arrays down and improving their output, making it more
attractive, particularly for the service of remote rural communities to
whom bringing the benefits of the national grid has a very high cost.
The coastal areas of Sindh and Balochistan are ideal for generating wind
energy, a technology mastered by some European countries with far less
wind resources. Bio-mass is the degradable waste of livestock that can
be widely and easily gathered in the rural areas and recycled for energy
generation. Even in the hydel sector, small generation units can be set
up at the falls of canals, adding a fair share to the national
production of energy.

The argument that such forms of energy cannot serve
beyond a limited area has to be weighed against the cost of extending
the national grid to the remotest parts of the country. Such an
examination would indicate that sometimes it is cheaper and more
effective to generate energy locally and serve small communities that
way than to wait interminably for the national grid to arrive at the
doorstep of such communities at a high cost.

What is needed, is a national plan to be implemented
on a war footing. In the decades to come, Pakistan cannot meet its
growing energy requirements by relying solely on its traditional sources
of energy. Unless some of the deficit is met through non-traditional and
renewable sources of energy, Pakistan would not be able to keep up with
the economic race in a globalizing world, if not provide its citizens
the benefits of modern development.B